An insider's view of what is really happening in the Harris County Criminal Courts

Friday, January 6, 2017

The One Woman Review Team

Contrary to initial reports in yesterday's Houston Chronicle that Kim Ogg would be presiding over a review team consisting of prosecutors Andrew Smith and Donna Cameron, as well as Temple Defense Team Surrogates, John Denholm and Steve Clappart, the paper is now reporting that District Attorney Ogg will be reviewing the Temple Case solely by herself.

Interesting choice. The reason cited by Ogg is that she needs to review it because of the controversial actions taken by then Assistant District Attorney, Kelly Siegler.

Unfortunately for Ogg, that makes absolutely zero sense.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has already reversed the case and sent it back for retrial after evaluating Siegler's actions on the case. As I noted in my last post, she is no longer a factor in what happens on the case from here on.

If there is sufficient evidence to proceed on the case, then it should proceed. If there is not, then it shouldn't. Plain and simple. Unless Team Temple wants to make the argument that Kelly Siegler was the actual killer, there is no longer any involvement that she has in the case.

So, why would Kim Ogg keep it herself?

Well, as the elected District Attorney she certainly has that right, I suppose. However, it sure seems suspicious. It seems even more suspicious when you have Temple Defense Team Leader, Stanley Schneider, acting as Ogg's spokesperson.

Schneider said he thinks it will take her [Ogg] at least two months just to read all of the information.

"And then comes the hard part, she has to digest it all," he said. "She has to come to her own conclusions."

Schneider said he and Temple are comfortable with Ogg taking the time to personally review the file.

"If she's comfortable with it, I'm comfortable with it," he said.

No mention was made of whether or not Stanley kept a straight face during the interview. Mental note: never rob a bank with Stanley. Why on earth is he so well informed on everything that Ogg will be doing? It's almost like they are on the same side or something.

Here's a small tidbit, when the Defense Attorney is telling you everything that the District Attorney is going to be doing, that usually means that the District Attorney is doing everything the Defense Attorney wants her to be doing.

Think about it. So, Stanley and Temple are "comfortable" with whatever Kim decides, are they? Will that be true if Kim decides that Temple needs to just plead guilt to murder?

Of course not.

Stanley and Temple declaring their high level of comfort with Ogg's decision seems to strongly indicate that they already know what that decision is. Ogg's rejection of having a panel review means that there will never be the unpleasant possibility of one of the panel members later telling somebody what factors went into making a controversial decision.

By acting as a One Woman Review Team, Ogg can simply do whatever she pleases, and then give a stoic, Harry S Truman-esque speech about how the Buck Stops With Her, and she will shoulder criticism in the name of Justice.

That would be more impressive if any of us actually believed she was reviewing it with an open mind.

As I, and others, have noted, Ogg can avoid the massive massive massive massive appearance of impropriety by just asking another agency to review the case in her stead. She has now rejected that.

Kim seems more than willing to tarnish her legacy before it begins.

Her One Woman Review Team absolutely reeks of the fix already being in.

Back on topic, realistically, just how much time should reviewing the actual Temple file take? I'm not talking about the defense team's condensed and completely devoid of merit version but the facts of that tremendously complex and lengthy file? To hear a few of the cranks out there, Pooper and his half wit male companion coming to mind, you'd think a couple of hours was sufficient while the rest of us understand the undertaking could easily involve a great deal of time.

Anon 6:51, given the number of highly qualified people replaced by those with little or no experience, the bulk of the blame goes to the voters. Anderson contributed to her troubles but given the top of the ticket and willingness to accept lies as truth, the voters are the ones bearing the brunt of this one.

Anon 9:39, could have not said it better myself. I think it comes down to people who have no clue how the criminal justice works (and think they do) and Ogg saying and doing anything (and she will continue to do so) even when she KNOWS it’s not true, especially having been in that office before. It is a shame

Somewhat unrelated, but the more and more I think about it, this whole race and things that have happened since election day remind me more and more of the Siegler v. Lykos face off and then the Lyokes administration, for instance all the mud slinging and vindictivness done during the campaign (since one party whose candidate is/was a career politician and had nothing to run on except by attacking the other with lies and the medias help *cough cough*) and then the mass firing of good prosecutors and unfounded accusations thrown around. Just my two cents in the matter

About Me

I practice criminal law and criminal law only. I've been involved in the criminal justice system since I was in college, and I've been practicing in Houston for over 18 years.
Most people never have to come down to the Harris County Criminal Justice Center unless they have jury duty. This blog is meant to give the Outsider an inside view.
These are just my opinions. The opinions of the Commenters are also just their opinions and I don't endorse them. But (within reason), I want everybody to be able to have a forum to say what they want to say.